Book tracks Scottish roots of Ulster Plantation settlers
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For centuries, English monarchs had tried, with limited success, to subjugate Ireland, and under the later Tudors had made serious attempts to settle Ireland with English colonists. Once he occupied the English throne, James I, as King James VI of Scotland, also invited the Scots to participate in the plantation of Ulster in particular. Scottish “undertakers,” who were granted vast estates, recruited the settlers, and, as many of the undertakers were from southwest Scotland, many of the settlers came from that region as well. Besides the pull of the undertakers, some of the inhabitants of Dumfries-shire, Kirkcudbrightshire, and Wigtownshire (now known as Dumfries and Galloway) were Scottish Covenanters fleeing from persecution.
The latest book from David Dobson is designed to assist family historians researching their origins in Dumfries and Galloway during the 17th century. Since only three of 86 parish registers of the Church of Scotland prior to 1685 survive for this area, Dobson’s researches attempt to fill the void as best as possible. The volume is based, overwhelmingly, on primary sources in the National Archives of Scotland and Edinburgh, and is fully referenced. Sources include the Court of Session, Commissary Courts of Dumfries and Edinburgh, the High Court of the Admiralty, Kirk Session Records, burgh records, Register of Deeds, monumental inscriptions, and more.
The inhabitants are arranged alphabetically and are identified by a town or townland, date, and source. In some instances, Dobson includes additional details. The major families in the Dumfries/Galloway region were Gordon, Irving, Kennedy, Maxwell, McKie, McLellan, McDowall, and Johnston, and many are featured in this latest review volume.
Scotland During the Plantation of Ulster, the People of Dumfries and Galloway, 1600-1699 is a soft-cover edition and offers a nice reference work for ancestors in this area. The price is $24.50, postpaid, and it can be ordered from Clearfield Company, 3600 Clipper Mill Road, Suite 260, Baltimore, MD 21211.
The history of this publishing empire is interesting, and you may want to understand why they are the leading publisher of genealogical books in the United States. During the 1930s and ’40s, Jules Chodak, the company founder, frequented book auctions and amassed a sizable collection of rare and out-of-print books pertaining to general Americana. He advertised his acquisitions in a series of catalogues and canvassed book dealers hoping to interest them in his hard-to-find titles. Trading as the Southern Book Company, he moved his office and stock out of his home to a location in downtown Baltimore, Md.
During the 1950s, Chodak’s book dealership underwent two important changes. First, he narrowed the range and increased the depth of his interests from general Americana to genealogy, heraldry and local history. Second, he went into the publishing business to accommodate the demand for out-of-print titles. In 1952, the Southern Book Company published its first book, the reprint edition of William M. Clemens’ Virginia Wills Before 1799. The reprint segment of the business grew, and in 1959, Chodak changed the company name to the Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc. (GPC). By the time of Chodak’s death in 1968, publishing revenues were on par with sales of old books.
Over the next 20 years, GPC completed its metamorphosis to that of a specialty publisher. It ended its book dealership and liquidated its inventory of old books. Under the direction of Barry Chodak, Jules’s son, and managing editor Michael Tepper, GPC emerged as the leading publisher of genealogical reference books and research manuals. The 1973 publication of Val Greenwood’s Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy set the standard for commercial book publishing in genealogy. Revised and updated through three editions, this work continues to be the reference book that U.S. genealogists reach for when they need assistance. Each year, GPC publishes as many as 40 original works in genealogy, written or compiled by experts in the field. It also reprints dozens of genealogical classics. Typically, GPC’s emphasis is on early American genealogy, especially the colonial and federal periods. Clearfield Company was established in 1989 to market and distribute GPC’s overruns and remainders. Since the early 1990s it has also published original and out-of-print titles that have a slightly more specialized focus in the fields of genealogy, local history, folklore, and Americana. Clearfield publishes more than 200 titles each year, and it has made available more than 750 discount reprints that otherwise would remain out of print.
Over the years, GPC and Clearfield have published more than 2,000 books and CDs. You can browse their works at http://www.genealogical.com. Gateway Press is the sister company that assists in the publishing of family histories, and many of the Gateway Press publications have been incorporated into the main catalog line. Their books and CDs cover the entire range of American genealogy, but one of their principal areas of strength is found in their collections of individual family histories. Typical of such collections is Families of Ancient New Haven, a three-volume work from Donald Lines Jacobus that covers every family in pre-Revolutionary New Haven, Conn. Another of this type of publication would be the book by Robert Barnes called British Roots of Maryland Families. This one establishes the origins of hundreds of pre-18th-century Maryland families, much like the comprehensive collection of magazine articles printed in the three-volume set Genealogies of Pennsylvania Families.
In addition, they publish hundreds of volumes of genealogy source records, most of which go all the way back to the colonial period of American history. These books save researchers the trouble of traveling to faraway repositories in search of materials on specialized topics such as immigration and royal and noble ancestry, while also supplying information on the more conventional records of birth, marriage, and death, will and probate records, land records, and census records.
You can also find other types of books too, such as the beginner guidebooks, and the self-help books with instructions on how to research in other states and countries. They even have books that cover any topics of research for the younger members of families. For the professional or amateur researcher, this is one publishing firm that covers all areas of genealogical research. Be sure to check out their Web site.
George family
Colonial researcher, Don Sharp, dons05@yahoo.com, is working on the history of Mandeville and needs information on the John George family. They moved to the Tickfaw River around 1808. Killian and Alexander Bookter were located right by them. They were located on the Tickfaw River between present day Springfield and Interstate 12 on the current map. Freeman George and Francis George had connections with Castin Bayou (Mandeville). Freeman George married Helen Spell, eldest daughter of Thomas Spell and Elizabeth Goodby around 1806, and Francis George married Uriah Smith around 1807. Freeman George and Helen Spell left the lakefront and moved to the Tickfaw River as the land was opening up. John George, the father, died in April 1823.
Contact Damon Veach
Correspondence to this column should be sent to Damon Veach, Louisiana Ancestors, Sunday Advocate Magazine, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821 or by e-mail to ancestorslaveach@cox.net.
The latest book from David Dobson is designed to assist family historians researching their origins in Dumfries and Galloway during the 17th century. Since only three of 86 parish registers of the Church of Scotland prior to 1685 survive for this area, Dobson’s researches attempt to fill the void as best as possible. The volume is based, overwhelmingly, on primary sources in the National Archives of Scotland and Edinburgh, and is fully referenced. Sources include the Court of Session, Commissary Courts of Dumfries and Edinburgh, the High Court of the Admiralty, Kirk Session Records, burgh records, Register of Deeds, monumental inscriptions, and more.
The inhabitants are arranged alphabetically and are identified by a town or townland, date, and source. In some instances, Dobson includes additional details. The major families in the Dumfries/Galloway region were Gordon, Irving, Kennedy, Maxwell, McKie, McLellan, McDowall, and Johnston, and many are featured in this latest review volume.
Scotland During the Plantation of Ulster, the People of Dumfries and Galloway, 1600-1699 is a soft-cover edition and offers a nice reference work for ancestors in this area. The price is $24.50, postpaid, and it can be ordered from Clearfield Company, 3600 Clipper Mill Road, Suite 260, Baltimore, MD 21211.
The history of this publishing empire is interesting, and you may want to understand why they are the leading publisher of genealogical books in the United States. During the 1930s and ’40s, Jules Chodak, the company founder, frequented book auctions and amassed a sizable collection of rare and out-of-print books pertaining to general Americana. He advertised his acquisitions in a series of catalogues and canvassed book dealers hoping to interest them in his hard-to-find titles. Trading as the Southern Book Company, he moved his office and stock out of his home to a location in downtown Baltimore, Md.
During the 1950s, Chodak’s book dealership underwent two important changes. First, he narrowed the range and increased the depth of his interests from general Americana to genealogy, heraldry and local history. Second, he went into the publishing business to accommodate the demand for out-of-print titles. In 1952, the Southern Book Company published its first book, the reprint edition of William M. Clemens’ Virginia Wills Before 1799. The reprint segment of the business grew, and in 1959, Chodak changed the company name to the Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc. (GPC). By the time of Chodak’s death in 1968, publishing revenues were on par with sales of old books.
Over the next 20 years, GPC completed its metamorphosis to that of a specialty publisher. It ended its book dealership and liquidated its inventory of old books. Under the direction of Barry Chodak, Jules’s son, and managing editor Michael Tepper, GPC emerged as the leading publisher of genealogical reference books and research manuals. The 1973 publication of Val Greenwood’s Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy set the standard for commercial book publishing in genealogy. Revised and updated through three editions, this work continues to be the reference book that U.S. genealogists reach for when they need assistance. Each year, GPC publishes as many as 40 original works in genealogy, written or compiled by experts in the field. It also reprints dozens of genealogical classics. Typically, GPC’s emphasis is on early American genealogy, especially the colonial and federal periods. Clearfield Company was established in 1989 to market and distribute GPC’s overruns and remainders. Since the early 1990s it has also published original and out-of-print titles that have a slightly more specialized focus in the fields of genealogy, local history, folklore, and Americana. Clearfield publishes more than 200 titles each year, and it has made available more than 750 discount reprints that otherwise would remain out of print.
Over the years, GPC and Clearfield have published more than 2,000 books and CDs. You can browse their works at http://www.genealogical.com. Gateway Press is the sister company that assists in the publishing of family histories, and many of the Gateway Press publications have been incorporated into the main catalog line. Their books and CDs cover the entire range of American genealogy, but one of their principal areas of strength is found in their collections of individual family histories. Typical of such collections is Families of Ancient New Haven, a three-volume work from Donald Lines Jacobus that covers every family in pre-Revolutionary New Haven, Conn. Another of this type of publication would be the book by Robert Barnes called British Roots of Maryland Families. This one establishes the origins of hundreds of pre-18th-century Maryland families, much like the comprehensive collection of magazine articles printed in the three-volume set Genealogies of Pennsylvania Families.
In addition, they publish hundreds of volumes of genealogy source records, most of which go all the way back to the colonial period of American history. These books save researchers the trouble of traveling to faraway repositories in search of materials on specialized topics such as immigration and royal and noble ancestry, while also supplying information on the more conventional records of birth, marriage, and death, will and probate records, land records, and census records.
You can also find other types of books too, such as the beginner guidebooks, and the self-help books with instructions on how to research in other states and countries. They even have books that cover any topics of research for the younger members of families. For the professional or amateur researcher, this is one publishing firm that covers all areas of genealogical research. Be sure to check out their Web site.
George family
Colonial researcher, Don Sharp, dons05@yahoo.com, is working on the history of Mandeville and needs information on the John George family. They moved to the Tickfaw River around 1808. Killian and Alexander Bookter were located right by them. They were located on the Tickfaw River between present day Springfield and Interstate 12 on the current map. Freeman George and Francis George had connections with Castin Bayou (Mandeville). Freeman George married Helen Spell, eldest daughter of Thomas Spell and Elizabeth Goodby around 1806, and Francis George married Uriah Smith around 1807. Freeman George and Helen Spell left the lakefront and moved to the Tickfaw River as the land was opening up. John George, the father, died in April 1823.
Contact Damon Veach
Correspondence to this column should be sent to Damon Veach, Louisiana Ancestors, Sunday Advocate Magazine, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821 or by e-mail to ancestorslaveach@cox.net.
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